…a boomer muses about life, change, joys, sorrows and freedom from the prison of corporate life.

Bits and Pieces #21

Hi Y’all! I’ve only got a couple of bits and pieces today, but I find them interesting and hope you will, too.

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First of all, there’s Joan Ginther. She’s a Las Vegas resident who recently won a $10 million dollar scratch-off ticket, making her a four-time lottery winner. Okay, let’s start with her latest win. I’ll admit I don’t know much about scratcher tickets, but I had no idea you could win as much as ten million dollars from them!!!! Even though she lives in Las Vegas, she apparently likes to buy her tickets in her home state of Texas.

What is it about this women that attracts luck like this? Any ONE of her wins would be a windfall, but all that money? It hardly seems fair, does it? But I don’t begrudge her. After all, she’s the one who persistently bought the tickets. Memo to self: Start buying lottery tickets, you dufus! And I mean NOW!

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A week ago I went to the grocery store on a day with on-again, off-again rain. Right before I left the car I glanced at my pink umbrella and started to reach for it, even though at that point the rain had completely stopped. I’m usually ultra-cautious about taking my umbrella with me, but this time I thought, “to heck with it.” After my shopping was done, I pushed my cart out of the store, only to see about six people sitting on wooden bleachers with full carts in front of them. The rain was POURING down in buckets! And obviously, they had settled there under the overhang to wait. I joined them. I was telling the women on either side of me that I KNEW I should have brought my umbrella. They, too, had similar stories.

After a bit, the woman on my right said, “Shoot! I haven’t had a shower today. I’m going to leave my cart and bring my car up here.” Then I was shocked to see her cram her purse into the cart and then take off running in the rain! She left her purse! I looked over at a man who had been sitting on the other side of her and saw him shake his head. He was one of those men who just look really nice. There was a peacefulness about him. He reminded me of the actor James Cromwell, who played Babe’s owner in the movie and also George in “Six Feet Under.” Anyway, soon the woman drove up, loaded her groceries and left.

Then something surprising happened. The man came over to me and said “If you’d like, I’ll go get your umbrella out of your car. I’m going to walk home anyway, so I don’t mind getting wet.” I smiled, but said, “No, that’s okay, but thanks!” But by then we had all been sitting there for about ten minutes. He said, “Are you sure? I’ll just leave my groceries here and run get it for you.” And you know what? I said “Okay.” The thought entered my mind that perhaps I had just given him my car, but I dismissed it immediately. I just knew he was okay. Sure enough, he returned with my umbrella and keys, accepted my thanks and started walking down the sidewalk. .

I headed out in the downpour with my umbrella, unloaded my groceries and put the cart away and thought, “I should have given him a ride!” I quickly got into the car and drove in the direction he had gone but…he had vanished! And I could just kick myself! There were several women sitting there and I have no idea why he picked me, but I feel like I missed an opportunity. Here was someone who did an act of kindness for me with no expectation at all. Just knowing people like him exist kind of renews my faith in mankind. Who knows? Maybe he was an angel in disguise.

What a sweetheart of a man. Angels do walk the earth. He must have picked you because you were the most worthy of the women sitting on the bench? And the woman with all the lottery money…all I can say is I hope she is using much of it for good causes and not showering herself with bling. She’s one lucky gal.